Through WCCUSD’s Ivy League Connection program, Hercules High School Students Justine Betschart, Stacy Chan, Ramiah Davis-Shephard, Louisa Man, Julia Maniquiz, and Yueming Wang will be attending Cornell University to either study Freedom and Justice or Hotel Operations Management during the summer of 2009.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

It takes one blink

I can’t believe it’s finally here. I’ve been anticipating my journey to New York ever since I was accepted into the Ivy League Connections Program. The whole application process only seemed like yesterday. And now, I’m only one blink away from the Big Red. Time really does fly.


Aside from googling the 11 Hotel companies assigned for the Hotel Operations Management program pre-assignment, I found it helpful to research some other chains that were not included on the list, such as the Hyatt and the Accor. Also signing up for the free online news feed from www.hotel-online.com/News/Subs/mailme.html is an effective way to collect information regarding the present-day hotel industry. Thanks Alvin for sharing!


In addition to learning about hotels, Mrs. Heather Madland encouraged me to utilize all of the resources during my stay at Cornell. For me, writing does not come as easily as my peers and I have already made improving my writing a summer goal. Attending workshops and seeking mentoring are on my to-do list at Cornell this summer will definitely help me improve. If anyone else is interested in enhancing their writing, let me know and we can team up! Also, I am positive there are workshops for other subject areas so do use them if needed. Please spread the word!


I know that all six of the Cornell-bound Hercules High students are ready for our amazing adventure in New York. We will gather a lot of information and work as diligently as we can, but let us not forget that we will also have a great time this summer!


Being allowed an opportunity like this was something I couldn’t dream of happening two years ago. And now, I know I am extremely excited and mentally prepared for the experience. Big Red, here I come in a blink!


~Yueming W.

1 comment:

  1. Yueming,

    There's nothing like walking into a class prepared to do battle. Doing your research ahead of time should give you a nice perspective. Adding to the assigned areas to study should give you an edge up.

    Something that first time collegians often suffer through is the realization that they’re no longer the top dog. While in high school you may be a straight A student but when you arrive in some of these classes you may find that everyone else was a straight A student and that now makes you just ‘average’. That can be tough to adjust to.

    Coming in prepared, though, can help give you an edge that makes you better than average.

    Just in my own reading about some of the hotels listed I have to wonder whether they’ll be looking very closely at some of the discount chains like Motel 6 and Super 8 which are just as important a part of the hotel business just not as sexy or glamorous.

    About 20+ years ago there was a TV series called Hotel about the St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco where all kinds of wonderful adventures would happen each week. For some reason I have trouble imaging a similar series centered around the Motel 6 where in this week’s episode we a gang of bikers takes over several of the rooms to conduct their drug deal when—horrors of horrors—the ice machine breaks down.

    Let’s see if they mention anything like that in your lectures.

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